UNC Receives Second-Highest Fundraising Total

UNC was given its second-highest fundraising total through gifts and grants in fiscal year 2014, despite a complete change in leadership.

Chancellor Carol Folt began her tenure as the 11th chancellor of the University. In her first year, she developed and hired her executive staff, completing the process with the hiring of Matthew Fajack as the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration beginning this fall.

The University received $297.5 million last year, which is a nine-percent increase from the previous year.

Chancellor Carol Folt says that speaks a great deal about the supporters of the University that continued giving through a time that was mired in an academic scandal.

“When I look at those numbers, I think it tells me that, first of all, there’s an amazing commitment to Carolina,” Chancellor Folts says. “To be raising at that level before you go into a campaign is unusual. That means people really care.”

Commitments, which include pledges as well as gifts, also rose by nine percent, from $248.3 million to $310 million. The commitments helped create five endowed professorships in addition to 58 undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships.

“I think it’s an absolutely fantastic thing,” Caudill said. “We had a transition in leadership last year. The fact that we were able to move through that year and have one of the highest fundraising years we’ve had in University history—that tells you something about the good things that are happening at Carolina and how people really think about Carolina.”

To see the complete breakdown of last year’s fundraising at Carolina, click here.

Former Scholarship Athletes Invited To “Complete Carolina”

“We’re all thinking about improving the athletic experience; it’s part of the national dialogue,” Chancellor Folt said announcing the program titled “Complete Carolina” at Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting. “What’s exciting about this program for us is it’s allowing us to build on what we’ve already been doing. We have this real thrust in improving our advising and improving all of our counseling, but also, we’ve always wanted to bring our athletes back, and quite a few have come back, but we really decided that it was time to make sure we could formalize it, make it easier, and ensure the funding so that we could increase the number of students that do come back.”

She said the timing of the announcement was critical so the reapplication process can begin for the upcoming semester.

“Part of the national discussion is, ‘what do we provide for students’,” Cunningham said. “We provide them an education; that’s what the collegiate model is. So, we want to fulfill that obligation to all of our students.”

In addition to providing financial support, the University will provide student-athletes who left the University in good academic standing with free room, board, and books. They will also be placed in a new, “enhanced” advising program.

“We added two additional advisors last year,” Cunningham said. “Now, we’re trying to get all the students to meet with advisors in the College of Arts and Sciences each semester. So, we’ve already added some staff. If we need to add more as we move forward, we will.”

Cunningham said Complete Carolina will be funded completely by the Ram’s Club. He added that UNC averages about a 90-percent graduation rate among student-athletes.

UNC Faculty Council Chair Bruce Cairns said the faculty is completely behind this initiative.

“There’s a commitment on the faculty’s part to ensure that all of the students who have attended Carolina have the opportunity to complete their degree and be leaders in their community,” Dr. Cairns said. “So, we’re very excited about it.”

He says, regardless of the national conversation, this was something that was crucial for the University.

“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Dr. Cairns said. “It always starts with that. If that helps that ongoing conversation, then that’s great. Carolina has always led. Clearly we’ve had some challenges. We need to address those challenges, and I think that this is a major step forward.”

Chancellor Folt: One Year In Office

Chancellor Carol Folt has officially held the position of first-in-command at UNC for one year after taking the position on this date last year, and it hasn’t been an easy one.

Tuesday marks the official first anniversary of the University’s 11th chancellor and first female chancellor. Her entrance was brought on by the departure of Holden Thorp, who served in that seat for five years before his resignation. Thorp is now the Provost at Washington University in St. Louis.

Chancellor Folt took the job knowing that Carolina was in the middle of the biggest academic scandal in the school’s history and on the heels of the NCAA handing out punishment to the football team, including probation until 2015, a one-year postseason ban, and the loss of 15 scholarships over three seasons. Those results stemmed from finding that impermissible benefits were given to members of the UNC football team.

UNC announced Monday that the NCAA has reopened its 2011 investigation based on the possibility of newly available information.

Former North Carolina Governor Jim Martin was hired to conduct a review of the African and Afro-American Studies Department. That report, which was released on December 19, 2012, stated that the issue was isolated to academics solely and was not an athletic problem.

Now, the University is awaiting the results of yet another review. Former assistant attorney general for national security and partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Kenneth Wainstein was hired by the University in January to conduct an external review of any and all academic irregularities. On June 20 at a UNC Board of Governors meeting, Wainstein made it a point to say he has not been giving the University updates into his investigation in order to protect the integrity of the review. The University has in turn promised Wainstein not to conduct any other investigations until he has concluded the review.

Wainstein says he hopes to have the investigation completed before the start of the Fall 2014 semester.

Chancellor Folt’s first year has been highlighted by new hires. She recently announced the completion of her executive team with the hire of ¬Matthew Fajack as the University’s new chief financial officer and vice chancellor for finance and administration. Her first hire was that of Jim Dean to the Provost position. He was previously the dean of the Kenan Flagler Business School.

http://chapelboro.com/news/unc/chancellor-folt-one-year-office/

UNC Fires Professor Convicted Of Drug Charges

RALEIGH — A physics professor who may be released soon from prison in Argentina where he’s serving a sentence on drug charges has been fired by UNC.

The News & Observer reported Chancellor Carol Folt fired 70-year-old Paul Frampton, whom drug agents arrested in 2012 at the Buenos Aires airport. The newspaper filed a public records request to get a copy of the letter firing Frampton.

The letter shows Folt fired Frampton for misconduct and neglect of duty.

Frampton has said he unknowingly carried 4 pounds of cocaine hidden in a suitcase from Bolivia while on a quest to meet a famous bikini model.

His friends told the newspaper that they expect him to return to the United States soon.

UNC Administration Quiet With DTH

The Daily Tar Heel‘s editor-in-chief for the 2013-14 school year, Nicole Comparato covered an academic scandal and reports of sexual assault on UNC’s campus, among many other things. But in her coverage, trying to get comments from first-year Chancellor Carol Folt or other administrators wasn’t always an easy endeavor.

“I think that it would benefit them more to be a little bit more open, a little more transparent, even though they’re saying this new website, Carolina Commitment, is what’s supposed to be transparent, and all that.” Comparato stated. “Of course, it’s frustrating.”

On a more personal level, Comparato spoke out about how she has witnessed the rest of the UNC student body handling these scandals. She claims that these problems are not going to be solved until the whole truth is exposed.

“I think students have been frustrated with it. I think that at the end of the day, they’ll still love the university.” Comparato explained. “But every time it gets dragged into the national headlines, and you see it on the scroll on ESPN, or something else coming up, I think it hurts a little bit. And I think that’s something that’s not going to go away.”

In her pursuits to be honest on all that has transpired with the university, Comparato says she has also encountered individuals who feel that her contributions are not impacting UNC in a positive way.

“People are always like, ‘Why do you want to expose all this stuff?’ It’s not that I necessarily want that, but I really care about this university, and I care about my degree, and I care about its reputation. So, I think it would be just better if everything was just out there, and we move on.”

Comparato stated that she is also eagerly awaiting the results of the Wainstein report, in order to finally have all of the answers.

Comparato joined Ron Stutts and Ran Northam on the WCHL Morning News Thursday to discuss her time leading the campus newspaper and her four years as a Tar Heel.

Willingham Blasts NCAA For Academic Improprieties

CHAPEL HILL – UNC clinical instructor and academic advisor, Mary Willingham said the academic problems at Carolina and at colleges and universities across the country start with the NCAA.

“This NCAA cartel machine is doing us wrong in this country and doing our young people some damage,” Willingham said. “Meanwhile, these folks are in Indiannoplis—and around the country, coaches and administrators—are making tons of money off the backs of these young people, and it’s got to stop.”

Those comments were made during an interview Friday on the WCHL Morning News.

***Watch the Full Interview***

***Correction from the interview: The IRB is the Institutional Review Board, not the Internal Review Board.

She said the admission of guilt by the university, and namely UNC Provost Jim Dean, that there were holes in the academic system is not enough.

“I really encourage (Provost Dean) to talk to us about what we know—Jay and I and others in the Athletic Reform Group—and open the door and have a real open conversation, because that has yet to happen at our university,” Willingham said. “It’s a university for crying out loud. We should all be able to sit around the room and have honest conversation and debate about what we know.”

Provost Dean was quoted in a Bloomberg Business Week article saying “We made mistakes. Horrible things happened that I’m ashamed of. Student-athletes and other students, too, were hurt. The integrity of our university was badly damaged.”

History professor Jay Smith was in the interview as well and announced that he—in collaboration with Willingham—is writing a book that talks about the history of the academic scandal at UNC in the African and Afro-American studies department and the illiteracy problems at UNC and at colleges and universities across the nation.

Smith said he, too, wants to see something more than just words come from the recent allegations of UNC’s academic improprieties.

“There’s nothing qualitatively different from any number of statements Holden Thorp made over the past several years before he left,” Smith said. “Holden, too, was willing to acknowledge mistakes had been made and that we had to be held accountable for them. Though, at least it does, on their part, signal a new willingness to look at the past and consider which lessons need to be derived from the past. So that’s…that is somewhat heartening.”

Willingham has been seen by many as an enemy to the university when she shared her research. She received death threats and was even called a liar by Provost Dean when he said in a Business Week article “she’s said that our students can’t read, our athletes can’t read, and that’s a lie.” Later in the interview for the article with Business Week’s Paul Barrett, the Provost said he had misspoken and doesn’t think that she’s a liar.

Willingham said she didn’t release the information with the intention of taking down the university.

She said she wants to see a change in the way student-athletes are taken care of at the university and how they are viewed within the system.

“We had a countless number of athletes that I worked with during my tenure—nearly seven years—in the program that left without a real degree,” Willingham said. “We still don’t talk about those guys. They took all these bogus paper classes, and they left the university still woefully underprepared for probably even a high school. That’s wrong, and we owe them. We need to bring them back, and we need to offer them the possibility of a real, legitimate education. That’s what we promised them in the first place.”

She said that she’s not even saying that students who can’t read at a college level don’t have a place at UNC, but that those who are at a disadvantage need to be protected.

“I’ve never said that athletes or any students at Carolina don’t belong at Carolina,” Willingham said. “It’s a public university; it’s a university of the people. But I think if we’re going to take students in, then we need to meet them where they’re at academically and bring them along. That’s all students.”

“I think we still have this, some sort of arrogance or some level of problem—I don’t know exactly where it comes from—because in 1795 we had an academy at the University of North Carolina for young men from the state who weren’t able to read in Greek and Latin,” Willingham said. “That academy lasted for a decade or a little bit more. Why don’t we just reopen the academy, and we could have the best football team and the best basketball team in the country. We could recruit whoever we wanted, and we could provide a real education.”

Thursday evening the News and Observer shared a letter that former interim dean of UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences and current Kenan Professor Emerita of Slavic Literatures, Madeline Levine wrote to Chancellor Carol Folt and Provost Jim Dean expressing her disappointment in the attack of the information shared by Willingham.

In the letter, she said she, too, saw evidence of students that’s were just pushed through the system and weren’t given a proper education.

Willingham said she expects this is just the first of many to follow in her push for academic reform.

“I have more than 2,000 emails,” Willingham said. “I’m hearing from people all over the country. They’re embarrassed; they feel some shame, because they don’t want to speak publically, and I’m certainly not going to bring anyone under the bus with me, because it’s not too pretty under here. But, nevertheless, I think that coming out and talking openly has given some people permission, and I think you’re going to hear from more people. I don’t think Dr. Levine’s going to be the only one stepping forward.”

By presenting the recommendation to the Board of Trustees this week, Chancellor Carol Folt and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jim Dean approve the selection made by the search committee led by J-School dean, Susan King.

With the confirmation by the BoT, Shackelford will replace Jack Evans who has been serving as interim dean since Jim Dean was chosen as UNC’s Provost last year. Although the search was international, the internal hire marks the second in a row for Kenan-Flagler as Jim Dean was promoted from senior associate dean.

Shackelford graduated from UNC in 1980 with a business degree. In the mid to late 80s he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He’s served on the faculty since 1990. His research and teaching focuses on taxes and business strategy. He’s held the position of associate dean on the MBA@UNC since 2010.

He spent some time off campus in the private sector before returning to teach. From 1981 to 1985 he worked as a senior tax consultant for Arthur Anderson & Co. in Boston and Greensboro.

Chancellor Folt: Breaking Down The Silos At UNC

CHAPEL HILL – UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said she wants to break down the silos at Carolina to allow the different schools and departments to better work together. These comments were made in a WCHL News Special with Jim Heavner.

“Within departments, you no longer have people that were necessarily just of that field,” Chancellor Folt said. “So we organize around curricular fronts, but we work across those disciplines: biologists work with chemists work with social scientists. So whatever we can do that can make it easier for faculty to share in the teaching of courses, easier for students to work with faculty from more than one department.”

She said, in some cases, the breaking down of silos even allows for teachers and students to work across school borders.

“The biomedical engineering degree that has been created with State and with Carolina is one of the best examples in the nation that I can already see where people have de-silo-ed and tried to look for a new convergence,” Chancellor Folt says. “But it can happen in any department, and in any division of the institution.”

And, Chancellor Folt said this is something in which the department heads have already expressed interest.

“And there’s a lot of excitement about it, because faculty have known that some of the most exciting work comes when you’re in between things” Chancellor Folt says. “That’s where the energy arises. So, I think there’s a lot of will. It doesn’t mean it’s always going to be easy; sometimes you have to give up authority around certain functions that can then be shared. You know, there are decisions that have to come, but there’s certainly an appetite here.”

As budget cuts continue and the economy struggles to recover, added pressure is put on the finances of the University. The chancellor has a plane at her disposal, but this chancellor said when she gets the chance she’d rather take a car.

“We really try to minimize the use of the planes—at least for my travel,” Chancellor Folt says. “If it’s really necessary, I can use that.”

“Have you been cautioned about the use of planes?” Heavner asked. “There was a lot of criticism, a lot of attention to the previous chancellor’s use of the planes.

“I think we’re just very aware that we’re trying to keep our expenses down and do what we can to really run the institution with the dollars that we have in a very strategic way.”

Tune in to the WCHL Morning and Afternoon and Evening News to hear the interview with Chancellor Folt in four parts Monday through Thursday this week.

To read the other articles in this WCHL News Special series with the Chancellor, navigate below.

Chancellor Folt: Not Looking Back When Making Hires

CHAPEL HILL – UNC Chancellor Carol Folthired UNC alumnus David Routh this September to fill the University’s role of Vice Chancellor for Development. In a WCHL News Special with Jim Heavner, she said the former holder of that position, Matt Kupec, and his personality had nothing to do with the new hire.

“David Routh is—in many respects in terms of his personality—the anit-Matt Kupec,” Heaver said. “Matt was big, effusive, bold, and a former football player, a big sort of inspirational speaker. David Routh operates on a quieter plane.”

“Honestly, I’ve never met Matt,” Chancellor Folt said. “I really was looking for the person that could really be right for this position right now and could help take us forward.”

Matt Kupec resigned from UNC in September 2012 after it was discovered that he and another employee, Tami Hansborough, misused university funds for personal trips.

The Chancellor has nearly filled her executive staff and is scheduled to announce the newest hire of the Vice Chancellor for Communications and Public Affairs on Monday.

Chancellor Folt said the number one priority for that position is crisis management.

“Every public relations person I knew believed that Chancellor Thorp, for example, should never have conducted a televised press conference to announce the firing of Butch Davis,” Heavner said. “Is that the sort of thing that you want your person to be tuned into?”

“Absolutely,” Chancellor Folt said. “The reason I try to keep this distinction is that I do think you have to deal with crisis management. But, you’re also dealing, as I say, with this content and this positive presentation of the work that happens here. I think you get in a problem if you think your public affair is only about crisis management, too. That would be a very narrow focus.”

Tune in to the WCHL Morning and Afternoon and Evening News to hear the interview with Chancellor Folt in four parts Monday through Thursday this week.

To read the other articles in this WCHL News Special series with the Chancellor, navigate below.

UNC Chancellor Visits Raleigh On Day Two

CHAPEL HILL – Dr. Carol Folt’s tenure as UNC Chancellor is just more than 24 hours old, and the former Ivy-League-College leader is heading to Raleigh to meet with state leaders.

Chancellor Folt reportedly spent the first day in office assembling her cabinet and meeting with student and staff leaders. Tuesday, Chancellor Folt meets with Governor Pat McCrory and other legislative leaders after which she returns to campus to continue meeting with faculty and staff at UNC.

UNC’s new chancellor will be in attendance Thursday for the Town’s July 4th celebration in Kenan Stadium.

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